A judge ruled Monday that former Boulder police Officer Christian McCracken's statements to his then-roommate -- a fellow Boulder police officer -- about planning to kill his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend were made voluntarily and not as part of an official police questioning.

McCracken is set to stand trial Feb. 11 on charges of attempted first-degree murder, felony menacing and felony stalking. Investigators say McCracken, while on medical leave last year, took his firearm out of police storage and then told his roommate, Boulder police Officer John Smyly, that he was going to shoot his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend before going up into the mountains and killing himself.

McCracken's lawyers had filed a motion to rule the statements inadmissible, since Smyly was a Boulder police officer and, they argued, did not read McCracken his Miranda rights.

McCracken suffered a head injury during an arrest on University Hill in August 2011 and was placed on leave. During that time, investigators say McCracken began stalking an ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, both Boulder police dispatchers.

Smyly testified Monday that on April 27 he called the Boulder Police Department to get the day off to spend with McCracken, but found out McCracken had been to the Boulder police station.

When Smyly asked McCracken about this, he testified, McCracken said he went to the police station to check out his service weapon. He told Smyly that he planned to shoot his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend and then go into the mountains to shoot himself.

But Smyly said he asked the questions as a friend and not in an investigative capacity, and Deputy District Attorney J.P. Martin said Smyly was not instructed by anyone at the station to question or detain McCracken and was not armed or in uniform at the time.

McCracken -- who was present at the hearing -- remains free on $500,000 bond. The conditions of his bond require he remain in custody while in the state of Colorado, but McCracken is currently staying in Alabama until his trial with the judge's permission.

McCracken resigned from the Boulder Police Department in August shortly before an internal affairs panel found him guilty of breaking department policy.

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